2009.08.13 00:14
In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world, the world of renunciation and supposed holiness. The whole illusion of a separate holy existence is a dream. ........... This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud, and I suppose my happiness could have taken form in the words: "Thank God, thank God that I am like other men, that I am only a man among others." ........ It is a glorious destiny to be a member the human race, though it is a race dedicated to many absurdities and one which makes many terrible mistakes: yet, with all that, God Himself gloried in becoming a member of the human race. A member of human race ! To think that such a commonplace realization should suddenly seem like news that one holds a winning ticket in a cosmic sweepstake. I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this ! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shinning like the sun. ........ Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depth of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God's eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed .... I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other. But this cannot be seen, only believed and understood by a peculiar gift. ...... At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will. This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us. It is so to speak His name written in us, as our poverty, as our indigence, as our dependence, as our sonship. It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely .... I have no program for this seeing. It is only given. But the gate of heaven is everywhere. ---- from "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander" by Thomas Merton Webpage : Sukjoo |
2009.08.13 03:53
2009.08.13 10:37
Hahn Joong-nim,
I admire you for having remarkable depth of spirituality, knowledge, and holiness.
Thomas Merton's teachings always cause me urge for profound awakening. In our soul,
pure glory of God is present with nothingness and absolute poverty, as he states. "It is
like a pure diamond blazing with the invisible light of heaven".
2009.08.13 14:23
나 선배님,
항상 격려의 말씀 감사 드립니다.
The above line you quoted is indeed so profound and beautiful and truthful that
it uplifts our spirit and deepens our faith.
It seems to describe Buddha's enlightenment, yet goes one step farther
towards God via Jesus.
I believe that is the difference between Buddhism and Christianity,
and the common denominator is the deep compassion for your neighbor which
both Buddha and Jesus preached.
Webmaster,
I suspected you would be familiar with downtown Louisville.
He lived at a monastery near Louisville at a place , called Gethesmane for some thirty years.
The last few years he lived as a hermit in the mountain.
2009.08.15 08:17
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul.
Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.
If you want to study the social and political history of modern nations, study hell.
Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone-we find it with another.
Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.
Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather,
it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.
Learn how to meditate on paper. Drawing and writing are forms of meditation.
“The least of the work of learning is done in the classroom”
“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings,
which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.”
We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being.
As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have-for their usefulness.
“We have what we seek, it is there all the time, and if we give it time, it will make itself known to us.”
No. | Subject | Date | Author | Last Update | Views |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Notice | How to write your comments onto a webpage [2] | 2016.07.06 | 운영자 | 2016.11.20 | 18194 |
Notice | How to Upload Pictures in webpages | 2016.07.06 | 운영자 | 2018.10.19 | 32349 |
Notice | How to use Rich Text Editor [3] | 2016.06.28 | 운영자 | 2018.10.19 | 5926 |
Notice | How to Write a Webpage | 2016.06.28 | 운영자 | 2020.12.23 | 43842 |
8643 | 한국 양궁 선수들의 연습 기록 [2] | 2008.08.12 | 이건일*68 | 2008.08.12 | 5499 |
8642 | 神弓 뒤에 한국산 `神弓` 있었다 (퍼온 글) [1] | 2008.08.12 | 이건일*68 | 2008.08.12 | 7438 |
8641 | "東華飯店 "을 소개합니다. [4] | 2008.08.12 | 유석희*72 | 2008.08.12 | 6859 |
8640 | 사재혁, 유도-77kg급 금메달 [4] | 2008.08.13 | 황규정*65 | 2008.08.13 | 7808 |
8639 | [5] | 2016.06.13 | 2016.06.13 | 51 | |
8638 | 프란즈 리스트(Franz Liszt 1811-1886)의 인생과 음악 | 2009.08.05 | 이종구*57 | 2009.08.05 | 6372 |
8637 | MY GARDEN - Tian Dayton [5] | 2009.08.06 | 이한중*65 | 2009.08.06 | 4320 |
8636 | 캄차카 여행( V ) [1] | 2009.08.06 | 유석희*72 | 2009.08.06 | 7220 |
8635 | 복분자가 익어가는 계절 [5] | 2009.08.07 | 황규정*65 | 2009.08.07 | 6579 |
8634 | 캄차카 여행( VI ) [4] | 2009.08.07 | 유석희*72 | 2009.08.07 | 7562 |
8633 | 옛 수도육군병원(首都陸軍病院) [3] | 2009.08.08 | 심영보*61 | 2009.08.08 | 8776 |
8632 | Partner Equilibristic/퍼옴 [2] | 2009.08.08 | Sungja#65 | 2009.08.08 | 9958 |
8631 | [re] 어느 여대생의 글 [3] | 2009.08.11 | 황규정*65 | 2009.08.11 | 6107 |
8630 | 아아, 8.15 [11] | 2009.08.09 | 나수섭*50 | 2009.08.09 | 5138 |
8629 | Time to Buy a House ?? [1] | 2009.08.09 | 운영자 | 2009.08.09 | 7569 |
8628 | 어느 여름날 - 이한중 [6] | 2009.08.10 | 이한중*65 | 2009.08.10 | 6291 |
8627 | Jackson Pollock paintings on John Cage music [8] | 2009.08.10 | 석주#65 | 2009.08.10 | 6724 |
8626 | ♥ 뇌졸중 -1 [1] | 2009.08.11 | 이종구*57 | 2009.08.11 | 8392 |
8625 | 보헤미아의 애국 음악인들 [2] | 2009.08.12 | 이종구*57 | 2009.08.12 | 6120 |
» | A MEMBER OF HUMAN RACE - Thomas Merton [4] | 2009.08.13 | 이한중*65 | 2009.08.13 | 4792 |
Why, in the world, was he in the downtown Louisville, Kentucky ??
That's the place I roamed for a few years during my training.
It's a bit crowded and rat-racy place.
If Thomas Merton felt such a profound inspiration in that busy inhumane corner
of the world, what could he have felt on the quiet beautiful foot-trails
in the mountains or deserts in the western US ?
When we meet another hikers on those lonely trails where we are unburdened
by the earthly rules, desires, and formalities, we really feel to belong each other.
I wish he (and you, too) was there on those trails.