(11) World Within

"...the fundamental element and purpose of the monk's life is not
essentially different from that of any Christian. On the contrary,
by discovering the interior attractions and instincts written by grace
in your heart, you touch the Heart of Christ, you become capable
of reaching the inner heart of your brothers in community and of
vibrating with the truest desires of all men."
[Augustine Roberts, CENTERED ON CHRIST, AN INTRODUCTION
TO MONASTIC PROFESSION, St. Bede Publications, 1979, p.141.]

Comment: At the time of this writing, Fr. Augustine served as a
Cistercian monk in Argentina. Some forty years later, reading
through his book, I sometimes feel it seems out-of-touch. The
world has moved on, and piety seems less relevant. Couldn't be
more wrong, however!

Maybe some of Fr. Augustine's words seem archaic, but their
meaning still holds--I believe. Though a devotee of the Christ,
these days I am more universally inclined towards the Cosmic
Christ as an Imago Dei. My perspective leans towards the Plenum
of the Universe, the Pantocrator, the Logos-Pneuma--all part of
the Continuum towards understanding God, the world, and
ourselves. So how do I understand Fr. Augustine's words, that
seem so far away in time and place?

I think the key for me is "relationship." As a systems philosopher
I understand the universe from the perspective of Deep Ecology,
which is about the Universal System consisting of systems upon
systems, all inter-connected, all in relationship. The universe is
One, and all its elements are but one upon One upon ONE. Like
our human body, all its systems, all its bones, inter-connect,
relate one to the other, to make our One Body move and live.

So, what Fr. Augustine seems to be saying to me is that we need
understand our self *within*. There's also this world, this mental
galaxy called mind that we humans also possess. It's like a
constellation of diversity, of archetypes, of hopes, of fears, of
information, all strung together within us.

Much of the time, we handle all this mental diversity by ignoring
it. Maybe not a bad approach, especially if we can avoid chaos.
There are some poor souls who cannot "get it together," so to
speak. On the other hand, there is this need to reconnoiter our
interiority, to explore it, to discover who/Who we are.

The "who" part would seem to be those "interior attractions and
instincts written by grace," as Fr. Augustine puts. These are the
seemingly natural part of our personality, how we are inclined.
Some, including myself, believe this natural part is something
which we are born with, though ultimately also dependent upon
our particular environment in which we live. This natural part
could be likened to our talents, to our potential.

But there is yet another aspect embedded in our mental system.
Psychologists sometimes call this our "Greater Self." Goodness!
But even sometimes these doctors of the mind refer to this as
"God." When we reach such an understanding--through gradual
individuation--I tend to think that we have encountered the Spirit
Within.

Indeed, Christ made mention that he would send the Spirit to us--
and that He and his Father would dwell within us. And when we
make this mental discovery, honing our interiority, it can be sort of
a "wow" of a response. Unbelievable! But there it is.

And it is *this* (I suspect) that Fr. Augustine is talking about, albeit
from his particular religious perspective. Discovering the Spirit
Within makes one realize that it dwells within each and every one
of us, maybe even into other forms of life existing at different
consciousness levels. And it is about *consciousness,* relating
a Connection that is there, standing within all of us, waiting for
us to better understand that we are ALTOGETHER, related,
like "branches to the Vine."