What follows is an excerpt from Chapter 3 from my book sOl: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vTiq9R90XtmhWYkFFsDmf4GZkTSxhqdWeTJPORK34fpyE7qiiCJ00eheLYznSUnIgbu7fN_2EDVZpB7/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000
In sOl you'll find additional content relevant to these teachings. Check out the book for the full experience.
all is perfect - if we knew everything, we wouldn't change a thing - we'd smile in unceasing delight
all is one - each is a unique expression of the One we are
all is loving - all occurs to our greatest benefit
all is known - our individual minds express the one, all-knowing mind
all is celebrated - the all-knowing mind delights in creation without limit or exception
all is forgiven - the all-loving heart forgives without limit or exception
nothing is lost - what is temporarily inaccessible in time is forever available in our ultimate state beyond time
all will be revealed - when our individual minds rejoin the all-knowing mind, & our individual hearts rejoin the all-loving heart, ignorance & disregard cease
The first step on Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path is: right view, aka correct understanding, wise outlook. More colloquially, we might call it being in our right mind.
Ultimately, the right view is no view. The right mind is no mind. No pre-conceptions. No pre-tensions. No pre-tending. A clear window. A flat mirror. We approach each moment with a humble, open mind. Beginner's mind, per the Zen masters. The mind of a child, as Jesus put it. We recognize cognition as the past re-living itself. We recognize pre-ferences as insecurity insisting on getting its way. We let cognition & preferences be occurrences among the rest, two bubbles among many on the foaming river of life. Liberated from our compulsive fixation upon cognition & preference, we are free to experience & explore life without the incessant tugs & shoves of the confused, conditioned mind, with all its urges & agendas. We are no longer caught up in the weather of our thoughts & emotions. We embrace our nature as both the weather and the sky. And we release our addiction to storm-chasing so we can enjoy the expansive repose of skyness.
Eventually, we'll get there.
In the meantime, the process is one of gradually clarifying our view. Incrementally refining our outlook. A logic divine is meant to be a touchstone, a tuning fork, for this process. It provides a series of divine truths we can connect with anytime we're struggling to find our bearings.
It's unrealistic, and perhaps even reckless, to expect conformity. It's a rare human who can exemplify these qualities in action, at least for very long. So strong is our compulsion toward fear & self-absorption.
Instead, the wiser use of these truths is to remember & release. Hug & let go. See the glimmer of the stars above, and then return our gaze to earthly roads.
We're feeling agitated. Stressed. Down. And now a loved one is speaking rudely to us. A stranger is cutting us off in traffic. A door is slamming shut in our face. We can feel our frustration & hostility mounting. Toward others, and toward ourselves. We wanna take action. Get to the bottom of things. Or at least cope, blow off some of steam, get some heat off our chests. If we act from this state - a state of reactivity & urgency - we're likely to create more suffering for ourselves & others. To be sharp & cutting. To think short-sightedly. To act from impulse rather than integrity.
This is a time for a logic divine. Let it be like a spritz of cool water on a hot day. A touch of balm. Gently tapping the brake. You're thinking, oh I'm gonna flip off this bozo who cut me off in traffic. Our reactive minds are already marshalling precedents & justifications to rationalize this disrespectful, risky, & ultimately unproductive choice.
"All is loving."
Sit with it for a bit. Invite your reactivity to attack that claim rather than the driver who cut you off. Then go to another: "all is perfect." Let it sink in. Let reactivity hit that pinata for a while. Let it chase this rodeo clown, and then another, and another if necessary. Continue the process until you feel free to choose. Do you really want to flip this stranger off? Or do you want to get these painful & uncomfortable reactive feelings off your chest, and that's the only method you've thought of so far?
In the white hot heat of reactivity, it's extremely difficult to muster that sort of insight. We lack the poise & wherewithal. We're simply too off kilter. Once we've paused for a beat or two, let some heat dissipate, and allowed our minds & bodies to catch their breath, wiser outlooks begin to emerge. From this place of mindful awareness, we are free to choose a wise response - which may be inactivity, or simply pausing further - rather than having to settle for a risky, urgent, emotionally-charged reaction.
A logic divine is also a tool for contemplation & philosophical refinement. I put it to you - wherever your reasoning conflicts with a logic divine, a misconception is hiding beneath the surface. A logic divine reveals these misconceptions, empowering us to discover & address them.
Let's jump right into the deep end: genocide is not perfect.
In terms of public policy, I wholeheartedly agree - I'd much rather live in a world free of genocide and the horrific suffering it creates. Personally, I abhor genocide, and I feel tremendous contempt & fury toward those who carry it out. I wish it never existed & I hope it goes away now & forever.
Now let's deploy the logic. By "perfect," I mean that (a) all occurrences are gOd-in-action (b) gOd is omniscient, omnipotent, & omniloving. In other words - if we knew everything, had complete power at our fingertips, & had fully open hearts, we'd look at what is & smile in unstoppable delight, unable to find any room for improvement. Indeed, that's exactly what gOd is doing every moment. When a genocide occurs, that is gOd expressing gOd's will that the genocide occur. Nothing occurs without gOd's loving desire that it do so.
We don't have gOd's knowledge or perspective. We're human. We think in terms of human experiences & human timeframes. We think in terms of morality & social justice. We can't see how a genocide fits into the bigger picture, or how it could possibly be tolerable, much less good. gOd knows that we are infinite & immortal. That earthly occurrences cannot harm our true nature. That when this human body perishes, our sOl does not; it generates a new lifeform and continue its sOlwork there. That from gOd's perspective, death is more like the sOl blinking its eye than the sOl suffering a tragic loss. That exactly how & when death occurs is an expression of the dying being's divine will. From this perspective, gOd recognizes genocide for what it is. Something horrific to experience. Something repulsive to our sense of decency & justice. And a step in the dance of creation, as beautiful & perfect as every other step.
gOd is not oblivious or aloof to the profound agonies of human suffering. Quite the contrary - gOd creates each nanosecond of suffering with the attentiveness of an artistic master, & gOd experiences that suffering not merely with us, but as us, feeling every smidge of pain & confusion & terror to the very same extent we do. gOd can be equanimous, even lighthearted, about it all, because gOd sees the bigger picture. gOd sees how these seemingly senseless occurrences fit into the larger process of our experience, growth, & ultimate liberation. We mourn because we see irreversible loss. gOd smiles because gOd sees ceaseless blooming.
In this context, to say genocide is perfect is not to condone or downplay genocide. All is perfect. If genocide were to cease and never recur, that's perfect too. Rather, the statement is an acknowledgement that our biases, however morally virtuous, are still biases. That our awareness, however well-informed, knows only a few grains of sand, compared to the miles and miles of beach running through the mind of gOd.
We can use a logic divine to humble & ground ourselves. We acknowledge that suffering happens & we don't really know why. We acknowledge how hurt & angry we feel toward the perpetrators. We honor our respect & compassion for the victims. We honor our disbelief & outrage toward gOd. And, poised in that dynamic storm of emotion, we breathe. We feel our hearts beating. Our emotions surging & sagging. We let ourselves experience & process what's unfolding. We use the tenets of a logic divine to recenter ourselves amidst all the swirling.
We don't have to pretend that we wanted the painful occurrence to happen or that we're okay with it happening. The key is that we've derailed the runaway train of reactivity, which would have created more conflict & suffering in the spirits of retribution, justice, guilt, or moral enforcement. We've given ourselves a chance to act rather than react. We've created some spaciousness & humility, some free range to consider options & choose from the heart. Our response is far more likely to be wise & beneficial from this calmer & more considered state. I hope a logic divine serves you as a tool for cultivating spaciousness & humility in a pinch.