“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” ~ Rumi
John O’Donohue wrote that spirituality has to do with the transfiguration of distance. “At the heart of spirituality is the awakening of real presence.” Here. Now. His message is about our busy minds that incessantly create separation. Busy minds create obstacles and keep us seeking. If we are lucky, as the old cliche’s goes, after the long search we learn that we had “it” all along. Separation is the creation of distance. Presence is the elimination of distance. Love is the absence of distance.
The transfiguration of distance is the power and purpose of art.
On our walk through downtown we saw this message stenciled on a wall: You hate me. There is no greater distance-creating word than “hate.” You. Me. Hate is the creation of distance between us.
One of the Hermitic Laws is the Principle of Correspondence: As above, so below; as below, so above. As within, so without; as without, so within. Applying the principle, if hate is the word you place between you and me then it is likely that hate is the word you place between you and you. It is nigh-on impossible to hate me without first hating yourself.
Doug used to tell me that health was determined by the distance between who say you are and how you actually live; the shorter the distance the healthier the person. As without, so within. Applying Doug’s rule, our nation has been distinctly unhealthy for a very long time. We are currently witness to the illness (once again) breaking through the skin. Any physician worth their salt would tell us we have an acute distance problem and health will come when, as a nation, we close the gap and live what we espouse.
I am reminded of an exercise I used to facilitate. Step one: Walk about the space and point at the others in the group and say, “NOT LIKE ME.” Step two: Walk about the space and point at others in the group and say, “LIKE ME.” Step three: Walk about the space and point at others in the group and say, “ME.” Step one is a rejection. Step two becomes an appeal. Step three is a recognition. Step three always brought whispers and a profound shedding of distance.
Rejection. Appeal. Recognition. What is the distance between you and you? What is the distance between you and me?
“From a distance you only see my light; as I get closer and you see that I am you.” ~ Rumi
read Kerri’s blog post about YOU HATE ME.
prayer of opposites ©️ 2003 david robinson
Filed under: Art, Awakening, Creativity, Flawed Wednesday, Love, Transcendence, Uncategorized | Tagged: appeal, correspondence, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, distance, hate, Hermetic Laws, John O"Donohue, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, recognition, Rejection, relationship, Rumi, spirituality, transfiguration |
The Direction of Intention 
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