My God, I have read a book review *. In this book the author says following his serious illness (terminal cancer) some essential things I sometimes understand sometimes not at all.
"God, the bright abyss"
My own experience is my ego is opposing day and night
surrender to You. And if I am very close to you, then I am experiencing a
milky-white existence of Nothing, in which I actually do not longer exist, not
being able to address myself to anything,
only experience an absolute Presence. So far, I can still follow Wiman.
"The other world is here, in the
bright abyss of existence"
And this I find very special, it’s my experience Life
being in the here and now, experiencing
You are there, experiencing the Kingdom of God can be realized on earth,
in the heart, in the surrender to You. So If I am understanding it correctly.
"Suffering does not make sense, but
is a key to the bright abyss"
But when he says that suffering is making no sense,
but may well be a key to Your abyss, than I'm not sure how I should take this.
I know that even beautiful things and experiences can contribute to change and
insight and acceptance of life, but difficulties and suffering as well. This is
surely regularly mentioned in the blogs. But I romp over it if suffering makes
no sense but is being a key.
Would you like to comment on this?
My son, of course.
"God, the bright abyss"
Of course, God is no
abyss. God is the total base, God is great, God is everything, God is infinite.
And when the ego is
confronted with God, it is feeling very small. And then the ego is getting a
sense of abyss and falling and disappearing into nothingness. But consciousness, and now this of Wiman as well, is growing closer to the realization of grandeur, is learning to let go, is learning to surrender, may come into contact with infinity and may lose everything, hence the feeling of an abyss.
But the individual consciousness remains, even though it can not be ascribed to qualities in its state of surrender. Then one ís, nothing else. Then one is in the milky-white bosom of God. For the ego an abyss, for the liberated personality an oasis of peace and being.
"The other world is here, in the
bright abyss of existence"
When a serious
illness is threatening the body or a great suffering is threatening the mind,
then there is the sense of abyss,
mentioned above. Quite actually, an abyss. Though it seems to be. Not for the
body and the ego, then the abyss is real. But for the human consciousness is it
an illusion. One seems to disappear, but in fact one is blooming open, the
human spirit is spreading its wings and the caterpillar becomes a butterfly.
For the caterpillar an abyss, for the butterfly life. And this can all be done
on earth, many spirits, saints, gurus and mystics have gone before.
The human caterpillar
falling into the abyss. The human butterfly entering the milky-white bosom of God, just on earth. Then the Kingdom of God in this human butterfly became flesh.
"Suffering does not make sense, but
is a key to the bright abyss"
Wiman has come to a
great understanding on Earth.
Suffering does not
make sense. But suffering is a key.
How can that be?
Especially religions and field-grown psychology tend to rationalize everything back to causality, until something makes sense or not, but that's a pretty primitive approach.
The example of a
knife can help.
You can use a knife
to cut bread. You can also use a knife to stab someone down.
Does that say something about the purpose of the knife?
Is the knife suddenly different, when someone has stabbed down with it?
Though that particular knife is indeed a very serious factor in the life of the victim and the murderer.
The purpose of the
knife is not cutting bread or killing a human being. The purpose has been put
into it by the user. This determines the purpose, not the knife. The knife is
only a key, namely an instrument, a device, such as a key can open the door or
close it.
The user of the key
determines the purpose: is he opening the door or closing it. The key itself is
an innocent instrument.
And so it is with
suffering too.
Suffering itself is
an innocent instrument. And suffering should not be inflated or enlarged or raped by religion or field-grown psychology.
Suffering is a tool, an instrument.
And the person who experiences the suffering, can open a door with it or he can just close it.
Wiman says suffering
to him is a key, to open the door of
life.
He makes lemon brush
of lemon. Another closes the door of life by suffering, is nailing up his life and is shrinking by suffering.
Wiman has expressed therefore a great spiritual insight that suffering in itself does not make sense, but is indeed a key.
And then it is up to man who has got this key in hand with the spiritual question: "is one opening up the door of life or closing it?"
Christian Wiman is
blessed.
My blessings to you
all
* Christian Wiman, My bright Abyss
