Jesus in Japan

Last night Bro. Simon was talking about his early travels in Japan, with rucksack and sandals he spent five years criss-crossing the country, and as he puts it, "seeking to get to the bottom of this Zen thing." Well, he never got to the "bottom" of Zen, but he described meeting an elderly Buddhist, he too traveling by foot, and with his limited Japanese was able to understand that this old fellow was going to see the "grave of Jesus Christ!" Bro. Simon was rather puzzled at the time, listening to this Buddhist speaking of the grave of Jesus, and actually pointing toward a far off hill, and uttering in English, "Grave ... grave ..." So the journey began, the two walking side by side, the young American and the elderly Japanese, both hiking to the grave of Jesus. Bro. Simon's bemusement was only intensified when they came upon a wooden directional sign, and in the midst of Japanese characters were the printed English words: "Jesus Grave" with an arrow pointing straight ahead. Late afternoon they arrived, and this is what Bro. Simon copied down, transcribed from the wooden sign that was posted before a mound that had a large cross.

When He was 21 years old, Jesus Christ (イエスキリスト) came to Japan and studied theology for 12 years. He came back to Judea at the age of 33 in order to preach, but people there rejected His teachings and arrested Him to crucify Him. However, it was His little brother Jsus Chri (イスキリ) who took His place and ended his life on the cross. Jesus Christ, having escaped crucifixion, resumed His travels and finally came back to Japan, where He settled in this village, Herai, and lived till the age of 106 (other versions mention the age of 118 and the name of His wife, Miyu). In this holy place, the tomb on the right is dedicated to Jesus Christ, while the tomb on the left commemorates His brother, Jsus Chri. All of this is written in Jesus Christ's testament.

Bro. Simon said the Buddhist monk stared at the grave mound and the cross for a very long time, then turned to him and placed a gnarled but firm hand on Bro. Simon's shoulder before smiling a smile that only someone that had already gotten to the bottom of this Zen thing could smile.

Everywhere

By the Sea of Galilee
They went forth
The trees’ fresh green was everywhere.

--Tetsuzo Takeda

The message

About half an hour ago I was somewhere else, then like a flat pebble skipping across a pond, rock meets water, each time I recover, a bit wet, but glad that I have touched the surface of depths that I know are more than my mere skimming the surface will allow me to enter, and I wonder, does the water think me cold and hard, do I disturb its tranquil surface, or does it welcome my unexpected, and perhaps unrefined, visit? Of course we may never know, for words are our only lasting memory of our brief encounter, and unless we utter words, utter thoughts, utter our souls, then the memory will be but concentric circles upon the surface while the depths remain untouched.

Shalom,
Bro. Bartleby

Fire

What does one do when the sun goes down and the candles are lit? Bro. Clarence pulled out a paper and read:

"What happens when a candle burns. The candle is made of solid paraffin wax. Paraffin wax has long, complex, chain like molecules made up from carbon atoms (C) and Hydrogen atoms (H). When the wax is heated by the candle flame, the long molecules break up and untangle. The solid candle wax turns into a thin liquid which soaks into the candle wick. The liquid wax breaks down into smaller molecules of flammable gas which mix with oxygen in the surrounding air. An oxidising reaction takes place which gives off light and heat to form a flame. The burning process converts the paraffin wax and oxygen into a mixture of gases, water vapour and small solid particles which we call smoke. The gases are mostly carbon dioxide - C02 and carbon monoxide - CO, produced when carbon from the candle wax combines with oxygen in the air. The smoke particles, or soot, are mostly unburned carbon (C). If you hold a polished metal spoon above a candle flame it will become stained with soot. Smoke contains water vapour which is produced when the hydrogen from the candle wax combines with oxygen in the air. A cold shiny surface held near to the candle flame will collect moisture from the flame."

"Life suddenly deepens and all the universe is present at the lighting of a candle." -- R H Blyth

"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." --William Shakespeare

"Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared." --Buddha

Bro. Sedwick pointed out that the saying of the Buddha is similar to what is found in the Hebrew Midrashic teachings:

"Many candles can be kindled from one candle without diminishing it."

An Electric moment

Okay, the purity of the experiment will be tainted, but nevertheless, a short moment on the Mac will be factored into the results. A few of the brothers are attempting a month without electricity, and for Bro. Clarence he is taking the experiment a step further, a month without electricity and without 'anything' produced with the help of electricity. So he is sporting a handwoven robe, his own handmade sandals (of yucca fiber), and is consuming candles at an alarming rate. So far the experiment is producing various reactions, from the early shock of how dependent on electricity we have become, and for Bro. Clarence the realization that modern humans are clothed and fed and transported and entertained and made comfortable, all by electricity, either nearly directly, or by extention. And how did humanity exist without electricity? Amazing that we need only look back a century or so to see, and here we are, today, captive in our newly discovered comfort. So is that what it is all about? Comfort? Well, I must extinguish this Mac before Bro. Clarence discovers my electric addiction!

The hand of God may well be all around us, but it is not, nor can it be, the task of science to dust for fingerprints.
--Biologist Robert Dorit

You don't look out there for God, something in the sky, you look in you.
--Alan Watts

God tells me how the music should sound, but you stand in the way.
--Arturo Toscanini

If you want me to believe in God, you must make me touch him.
--Denis Diderot

Because you cannot see him, God is everywhere.
--Yasunari Kawabata

Nothing is void of God, his work is everywhere.
--Lucius Annaeus Seneca

I did my best, and God did the rest.
--Hattie McDaniel

Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.
--Thomas Jefferson

If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.
--St. Francis of Assisi

I am unwilling to accept an existential universe without a God. It doesn't actually make logical sense. I feel that there has to be a higher level of compassion, of understanding, than merely a human one.
--Sting

Just as the soul fills the body, so God fills the world. Just as the soul bears the body, so God endures the world. Just as the soul sees but is not seen, so God sees but is not seen. Just as the soul feeds the body, so God gives food to the world.
--Marcus Tullius Cicero

Small amounts of philosophy lead to atheism, but larger amounts bring us back to God.
--Francis Bacon

Hidden nature is secret God.
--Sri Aurobindo

The best way to know God is to love many things.
--Vincent Van Gogh

ADDENDUM

Bro. Clarence wants to clarify my statement, his experiment will not exclude the use of electricity produced by his body. I should explain, at the break fast table this morning Bro. Juniper, who is not taking part in the electricity-free month, thought himself clever when he questioned my statement that Bro. Clarence has taken the experiment a step further and would not utilize anything produced with the help of electricity with "Does that mean Bro. Clarence will not be thinking this month?" Of course he was referring to the electro-chemical processes of the brain. That produced laughs around the dining table, although my chuckles were quickly silenced when the electrical activity within my skull directed my eyes to Bro. Clarence and even more skull activity determined that his eyes were upon me, and even further sparks of electricity within my head wiped the smile from my face and caused me to utter an apology to the butt of Bro. Juniper's joke.

Inspired interpretation

Bro. Cosmo made an interesting comment, "Scripture does not 'speak for itself,' but must be 'lit up' from the inside out by inspired interpretation." Then continued with an interesting analogy, if I recall correctly, he said think of scripture as Beethoven's Ninth and it being played with a Jew's Harp. Often that is exactly how scripture is presented, without depth, without 'inspired interpretation.' Now think of that same scripture with the inspired interpretion of Arturo Toscanini. Ahhhh, ode to joy!

Shaped destiny

I recently watched a blacksmith hammering a piece of glowing red steel and everything seemed to fit, the fiery coals, the sweat of the brow, the muscular arm lifting the heavy hammer for a mighty smite as sparks flew and former hard and cold steel yielded for just a brief moment to allow an honest bit of labor to shape its destiny.

Notes in the sand

I admit, this may be a bit rambling, but nevertheless, I will ramble on. I’ve been thinking of borders, and what borders imply, demarcated territory. Borders are an interesting subject, for most creatures know borders very well, I may sit in the patio and feed a cute and pretty Blue Jay, yet not know that this patio has been claimed by that Blue Jay, and if another Blue Jay attempted to win treats from me, they more than likely would be attacked by the Jay that “owns” this patio. In zoology this is call territorial boundaries. Animals have various methods of protecting “their” territory, the Blue Jay may mark it by song (or squawk), some animals use scent (watch your dog raise its hind leg and spray and leave his scent, or your cat spraying the living room sofa!). So in this sense I think borders are older than humankind, for all or most creatures seek to mark their personal territory. And I think humans instinctively seek to do the same, as individuals, as groups, as nations. The current globe is a maze of human created territorial boundaries, and I would guess that those political boundaries had their beginnings in the boundaries marked by tribes in early cultures. I would also think that it is the big and powerful that first demarcate most of the boundaries in the world. For in the animal kingdom it is the big and powerful that defends its territory, that is until the elk becomes too old or weak to fight off the young and brash elk. I’m not saying borders are good or right or just, just that they seem to be part and parcel of life. I guess for some of us the question becomes, is a particular border just and fair? Was that property obtained fair and just. But when it comes down to it, it seems to me that most borders are drawn by the strong and wealthy, and that would include the strong and wealthy animal, person, tribe, or nation. And for good reason, at least from the point of view of the strong and wealthy, borders help to keep their wealth and necessary livelihood away from those on the other side of the drawn line. So the whole concept of property rights and our legal system springs from the need of those that claim territory to bring order and safeguard their claims. I would imagine that studies in evolution would find a great advantage for survival for those creatures that know how to establish borders, and importantly, those that know how to protect their established borders. Well, one final ramble. Isn’t it interesting how individual cultures deal with individual personal space, I think this is a microcosm of the larger picture of groups dealing with territory. For the most part, Northern Europeans have a larger personal space than Southern Europeans. I think if you observed a Greek in conversation with a Dane, you would see the Greek attempting to move closer to arrive at the ideal (for him) space between the two, but each step closer to the Dane, and the Dane would take a step back, for his personal space is larger and he feels uncomfortable when someone (the Greek) crosses the “border” into his personal space.

Did Jesus stake claim to property or territory? In one instance Jesus advises a rich man, “Go and sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” Oh my! Everything? It would seem to me that if one then had no material possessions, then all boundaries and territories would sort of evaporate away. One would find oneself in a completely new and different world. And what would that be like? Scary? Liberating? I fear most of us fear to even think of what it would be like. But, did Jesus own anything? The way he constantly moved about seems to indicate that borders and boundaries and territories were something that no longer held or confined him. He once drew with his finger in the dirt, was he drawing a line, a demarcation? He did it when a woman was accused of adultery, the scripture only says that he drew “something” in the dirt and asked the crowd, “You who are without sin, you throw the first stone.” Of course no one cast the first, or any stones. So, was Jesus drawing a boundary line in the dirt? Was it a boundary line not demarcating territory, but a boundary line that one must cross when they choose to cross over and follow Him? Cross over from the world of territories and borders and confinement and into a world of ...

Scary? Liberating?

Sacred sand

Yesterday I took a rather long hike into the desert and came upon a sand dune and spent several hours just meditating upon this wind sculpted landscape of sand and it occurred to me that much of modern life is much ado about nothing. I recall reading an observation that Benjamin Franklin made in a letter to a friend, it was about how native Americans would leave their original lifestyle and become educated in the early American universities, and upon being "civilized" these newly educated individuals would at some point return to their people and return to their former lifestyle. One native American remarked that the white man overly complicated life and in the process became detached from the natural flow of nature. Which makes me wonder why we fuss so to modernize the world, to bring all the conveniences of modern science to all beings, and for what? To become aliens in our former garden? After countless eons of humans adapting to the natural environment, we have in a very short time detached ourselves from that environment, and have become overly complicated beings who have become lost and disconnected from what God and eons of evolution have made us.

Unbearable religion

It rather boggles my mind to imagine Jesus decorating himself with a mitre and dressing himself in lacy finery. Or to think of him as having pudgy and soft hands that wouldn't lift a finger to ease someone's burden. And these words from Matthew 23 certainly erase any thoughts of a preened and primped Jesus.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

“Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’

“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

--Matthew 23:1-12

Who owns faith?

Who owns faith? It is my understanding that Jesus wrenched ownership of faith away from the priests and handed it over to whoever has ears to hear. In other words, he restored it to its rightful owners. But it didn't take long for the 'organization' of Christianity to take root and again the priests hijacked back the faith that Jesus gave us. Sometimes I think theology is the art of wrenching faith from individual minds in order to claim ownership so as to organize and tidy up all that which is outside the domain of science and to institutionalize it, and in the process marginalizing those individuals that have active and questing minds, the former owners of faith. And for some who are fortunate enough to live in a time and place when and where the priests are weak, individuals can reclaim ownership of faith without fear of stakes and flames. Faith is not science, faith is not the provable, faith is what prevents us from becoming immobile, for some it is merely that which allows them to cross a street with confidence that some driver will not run them down. For others it is something never thought about, for them life is but a sequence of events which they merely move from one to the other in the most pleasant manner possible. But for me faith is the freedom to discern all thoughts, to seek the much better way, even when living in a changing world that promises nothing. So in the end the Bible is a book that one should be able to rip the pages from to start a campfire to cook the next meal, for only then does the Bible transform from a noun, a handful of paper and ink that one clings to, to a verb, to a life lived sacredly.

Light Bearer

Since those primeval nights we have sought to clothe evil in ever more elaborate finery, creating at times the garish and at others the sinister. So much so that we mistake the garb for the entity. In God's light all things stand naked, Truth is revealed and the nocturnal is exposed to the light of this Truth. Stripped naked evil quivers for what it is, the image of God denied. Free will is the agent.

O

O Wisdom
O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, Thou encirclest the world from one end to the other, Thou orderest all things with might and mercy: O come to us and reveal the way of wisdom and of understanding O Wisdom.

O Adonai
Adonai, the Lord and leader of the house of Israel, In the burning bush hast thou appeared unto Moses And given him the law upon the mountain: O come and deliver us with thy powerful arm O come and deliver us with thy powerful arm O come and deliver us with thy powerful arm Adonaï

O Scion of Isaiah's Line
O Scion of Isaiah's Line, predestined to be a sign for The nations, The rulers of the earth fall silent before thee, The Nations cry unto thee: O come and save us, bestir thyself, delay no longer

O David's Key
O David's key, sceptre of the house of Israel, That which thou openest, none can secure, That which thou securest, no power may open; O come and unlock the prison of darkness and the fetters of death

O Morning Star
O morning star, incandescence of pure light, Radiant sun of righteousness; O come and enlighten Those who sit there in darkness And in the shadow of death.

O King of All Nations
O king of all nations, their expectation and desire, Keystone, which holds all things together: O come and save mankind, whom thou hast formed from clay! O king of all nations, their expectation and desire, Keystone, which holds all things together: O come and save mankind, whom thou hast formed from clay! O come and save mankind, O come and save mankind, whom thou hast formed from clay!

O Emmanuel
O Emmanuel, our king and counselor, Thou hope and saviour of the nations: O come, make haste to help us, Thou our Lord and our God, our God

The Thoughts of God?

This morning at break fast Bro. Simon handed me some folded papers and said it was an essay well worth reading. And after reading it, I agree. I don't know the author, other than a Bro. Wesley, but I found his thoughts provoking, and well worth sharing.


I believe in God.

Have you ever considered the matter of the universe in all its forms? Have you ever thought about the fact that an atom of carbon here on earth behaves the same as one 10,000,000 light years away? Or that that same carbon atom is 99.9999% - nothing - void - empty space. Or that while physicists attempt to understand it by describing it mathematically and smashing it to bits to see what happens, they can only imperfectly model it?

I believe an atom is a self-contained, perpetually active thought. It is a thought that physicists nearly, but not completely, understand.

Just as the simple laws of geometry - which like the fundamental forms of matter are small self-evident thoughts - can be brought together to "prove" more complex theorems, the fundamental forms of matter of this universe - the thoughts of this universe - come together to "prove" more complex things. Through their interplay we see stars and planets, black holes and oceans, mountains and streams. We, in fact, see Life!

I can not consider matter, itself, in its fundamental forms, nor especially in the form of its resultant proofs without knowing that it did not come about by accident.

Matter in its simplest forms are the thoughts of God made tangible just as I am the thoughts of God made tangible. When I think about this I wonder if I am a part of God, coming full circle through the miracle of his creative power, to introspect - to rediscover himself through his own creation?

There was a time when this aspect of God was all I believed. He was a God that created and wound up what we know as the universe and all its matter - perhaps even becoming the matter of the universe himself - but did not interfere and did not care. He was a God that didn't do miracles beyond the miracle of his own majesty - beyond the miracle of his own creation. This mathematical and physical view of Him did not seem to hear my prayers and did not love me. I was for Him an interesting result of His creation just as He was for me a subject of philosophical consideration.

This is what I believed and as far as I knew, I was alone.

But then I began to read about a man who said he was God's representative and that God was, in fact, Love. God had gotten involved and made this man specifically for us. If a physicist has an understanding of God's mind, this man had an understanding of God's heart. I could believe in God through the incomprehensible majesty of his creation but I could not access his love - his heart - his purpose - except through the words of the man who said he was his son.

I was an outsider - watching and thinking - amazed but alone. I believed in God's mind but not in his heart. But now I believe in Both.

This I also believe - I believe in Jesus Christ.

The luxury to ponder

The days have been cool, or cold, and the nights have been freezing, freezing cold, and with our very primitive heating system, I can say that warmth is but an imagined state that seems to keep me moving so that my imagination doesn't dwell upon it. So I've been taking many hikes into the desert, meandering hikes, and being bundled up to retain the heat that my body is producing, I attempt to maintain a sort of comfort zone, where I can amble to whatever catches my eye, yet not huff and puff enough to break into a sweat. While walking hither and thither I ponder about those folks that survive in harsh climates and wonder if they can ever find a state of comfort where they can forget the immediate environment and let their minds 'out of doors' so to speak, to dwell upon the abstract, even to have the luxury to ponder about the meaning of life. Just over a month ago I could lay back in my hammock and ponder the meaning of life, for the temperature was pleasant and my belly was full and everything seemed to make each moment as carefree as possible. But when one is uncomfortable, especially by the climate, then the mind cannot have the luxury of deep thoughts, for the shallow thoughts are all consuming. Like this morning, my toes were freezing, and until I remedied that situation to avoid frostbite, my brain would not let go. So off with the sandals and on with the extra-thick wool socks and on with the hiking boots, and after a bit my toes let go of my brain. So here I sit, somewhat comfortable, yet in my head a voice seems to whimper, "It's going to be freezing tonight! Why don't you purchase a modern heater!"

Reason

"For reason is a property of God's, since there is nothing which God, the creator of all things, has not foreseen, arranged and determined by reason; moreover, there is nothing He does not wish to be investigated and understood by reason."

"Reason without goodness is not reason, and goodness without reason is not goodness."

--Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullian (160-230 AD)

The Ultimate Chef

"If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch, you must first invent the universe."
-- Carl Sagan

Comfort vs Experience?

"Technology is a way of organizing the universe so that man doesn't have to experience it."

--Max Frisch

Waning Gibbous

At the dining table last evening Bro. Simon asked Bro. Clarence, "When will we be able to see the moon through that contraption of yours?" Well, Bro. Clarence has been working off and on with the construction of a telescope, or as he calls it, "An eight inch Dobsonian." He allowed me to paint the exterior of the long 8-inch tube with a bit of whimsy, actually a take off of the Mexican artist Jose Posada's "Corrido El Cometa de 82"(Ballad of the Comet of 82). Well, this new telescope certainly does not look like the ordinary white-tubed astronomer's telescope, it looks like what a device that searches God's universe should look like, a wonderful and festive piece of art, that happens to also gather light. So while working on his tofu dish, Bro. Clarence looked at Bro. Simon and said matter of factly, "The Dobsonian is not for moon gazing, in fact that waning gibbous out there is causing the delay ... must await the new moon for a proper star party." Which I finally translated to mean that he is still calibrating his new device and wants to unveil it on a very dark wintery night, a night when the Milky Way shows itself off, and a night that a work of art, an 8-inch Dobsonian, would take a peek at the ultimate work of art, the starry night sky.

The inner experience

I was up on the ladder today clearing out the rain gutters and while shoving a garden hose down the down spout, Bro. Juniper spotting me and shouted up, "You gotta read this!" My reply was, "Turn the faucet on ... yes, over there ... full blast!" And he did turn the faucet on full blast and after a bit of snaking the garden hose up and down, whatever was clogging the spout freed up and the water flowed down freely. "Turn it off!" When I look down Bro. Juniper was now seated on a wooden bench near his rock and cacti garden, seemingly lost in his book. "Turn the water off!" I didn't want to leave the hose in the spout and climb down the ladder and turn off the water and then climb back up the ladder to remove the hose, and I didn't want to pull the full-blast garden hose from the down spout and attempt to aim the blast away while climbing down the ladder, so I yelled, "Juniper! Turn off the water!" Finally he responded, looked up with a puzzled expression on his face, then looked at the water flowing from the down spout, then seemed to put it all together and hurried to the faucet and turned off the water. "Thank you!" and he replied, "You gotta read this!" So with hose on the ground and ladder stored away, I returned to find him still nose to page. And I have to admit, I was nose to page until he pulled the book away, and we agreed that I would read it when he has finished it. Oh yes, the title: Thomas Merton: Spiritual Master

And here is the excerpt that got Bro. Juniper's attention:

This discovery of the inner self plays a familiar part in Christian mysticism. But there is a significant difference, which is clearly brought out by St. Augustine. In Zen there seems to be no effort to get beyond the inner self. In Christianity the inner self is simply a stepping stone to an awareness of God. Man is the image of God, and his inner self is a kind of mirror in which God not only sees Himself, but reveals Himself to the "mirror" in which He is reflected. Thus, through the dark, transparent mystery of our own inner being we can, as it were, see God "through a glass". All this is of course pure metaphor. It is a way of saying that our being somehow communicates directly with the Being of God, Who is "in us." If we enter into ourselves, find our true self, and then pass "beyond" the inner "I", we sail forth into the immense darkness in which we confront the "I AM" of the Almighty.